ADIANTUM. 7 



dor, Scemiiim. — Our observations on llie IJndsaa vuicrophyUa of Kunzc, 

 ' Analccta I'leridographica,' have elicited tlie fact that an Adianinm from 

 Moricand (the phuit we had the ()i)]>orliiiiit) of inspectiii},') was confounded 

 in that work with Knutfus' orii^inal plant, which tlie learned author as- 

 sures us is a true Lindscea, as there described and iipured. He has now 

 in the 21st volume of the ' Linnica ' rijihtly described the plant of Mori- 

 cand as a new species of Adiaiidnii (Ilcuardia, J. Smith, on account of the 

 copiously reticulated venation) under the name of ^. dolosum, and has ad- 

 ded another sUlion for this apparently rare plant, namely, Mariepaston, in 

 Surinam, where it was detected by Kapplcr. We, too, have had the good 

 fortune to receive very fine specimens lately, collected by Mr. Seemann in 

 El Equador, on the Pacific side of Tropical America. It is a most dis- 

 tinct and very fine species. Some of Mr. Scemann's specimens have pin- 

 n!E a span long (one pinna measures ei<>;ht inches ! and the broadest pinna 

 is nearly two inches wide) ; so that it well deserves the title Kunze has given 

 to it of "/'//i.r viemorabilis." 



11. A. Hetvardia, Kze. ; frond broad irregular pinnate or 

 below bipinnate, pinnules altcrnalo rather remote all peliolate 

 more or less acuminate membranaceous olive brown when 

 dry, the base unequal the upper margin rounded or trun- 

 cate the lower cuneate, costa evident ebeneous below, veins 

 everywhere anastomosing and forming irregular oblong 

 hexagons, sori continuous on both margins generally to the 

 very apex, stipes and rachis ebeneous glossy. — Kze. Schkh. 

 Fit. SuppL p. 104, t. 49. Hewardia adiantoides, J. Sm. in 

 Hook. Journ. of Bot. iii. p. 432 tah. 16, 17; and iv. p. ICl. 

 Hook. Gen. Fil. t. 89. 



Hab. French Guiana, Martin, Le Prieur. — I am indebted to my friend 

 Mr. Heward for my specimens of this rare i)lant, and it seems an ungrate- 

 ful return to be instrumental in abolishing a Genus which he so richly 

 merits ; but I confess I cannot see that it is agreeable to Nature to sepa- 

 rate a Genus of Ferns on account of the mere anastomosing of the veins of 

 the pinnae, unaccompanied by any peculiarity of character or by a difiereut 

 habit. We have shown, too, that there are various grades of union of the 

 otherwise dicbotomous veins in this genus. We allow that the affinity of 

 this is with A. dolosum, in which the reticulation exists, though less pro- 

 minent : it is equally allied to A. Wil.wni, in which the anastomosing 

 character is still less apparent, and perhaps yet more closely allied to A. 

 Phi/llilidis, in which the veins are all forked and free ! 



** Sori suborbicular or ohlnng, itoi much elow/atcd, nor continuous (12 — 3*2). 



12. A. Kaulfussii, Kze.; frond pinnate (very rarely below 

 subbipinnate), pinna; alternate short-petioled chartaceous 

 ovato-lanceolate obtuse or acuminate obscurely costate near 

 the petiole the base above tnmcately cuneate below dimidi- 

 ato-cuneate glossy above glaucous and opaque beneath, the 

 sterile ones lobed and sen-ated, sori all along the upper and 

 lower margins generally to the apex oblong curved approxi- 

 mate rarely conlluent and continuous, stipes and rachis ebe- 



